Information between 16th December 2024 - 26th December 2024
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Division Votes |
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17 Dec 2024 - National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill - View Vote Context Matt Vickers voted Aye - in line with the party majority and against the House One of 97 Conservative Aye votes vs 0 Conservative No votes Tally: Ayes - 195 Noes - 353 |
17 Dec 2024 - National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill - View Vote Context Matt Vickers voted No - in line with the party majority and against the House One of 100 Conservative No votes vs 0 Conservative Aye votes Tally: Ayes - 354 Noes - 202 |
17 Dec 2024 - National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill - View Vote Context Matt Vickers voted Aye - in line with the party majority and against the House One of 105 Conservative Aye votes vs 0 Conservative No votes Tally: Ayes - 196 Noes - 352 |
17 Dec 2024 - National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill - View Vote Context Matt Vickers voted Aye - in line with the party majority and against the House One of 104 Conservative Aye votes vs 0 Conservative No votes Tally: Ayes - 206 Noes - 353 |
Written Answers |
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Employment: Women
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Tuesday 17th December 2024 Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of women in employment since 2010. Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) The Government is committed to tackling the challenges women face in the labour market and takes seriously the challenges they face in balancing work with other life events. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public authorities to consider impacts on those with protected characteristics, including sex, when exercising their functions, like making decisions. Female participation in the labour market grew substantially over the 2010s, predominantly driven by changes to the female State Pension Age. In recent years, participation has stalled and has only grown by 0.9 percentage points in the last 5 years, and the employment rate for women aged 16-64 currently stands at 72.1%. (Source: Labour Force Survey, Jul-Sep 2024).
As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, too many women who care for their families still experience challenges staying and progressing in work. This is reflected in the higher rates of female inactivity and unpaid carers, and contributes to the gender pay gap. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out how it will take a system-wide approach to reducing barriers to work, including measures to make it easier to access affordable childcare and manage caring responsibilities alongside work. |
Pension Credit
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Tuesday 17th December 2024 Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Pension Credit awareness campaign. Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury) Our campaign has seen DWP receive around 150,000 Pension Credit applications in the 16 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement compared to around 61,300 Pension Credit applications in the preceding 16 weeks. This represents a 145% increase in applications. The latest figures also show that 42,500 Pension Credit awards were made since the 29 July. |
Employment Rights Bill
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Tuesday 17th December 2024 Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the employment rate. Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) The Secretary of State, and ministers, regularly meet with Cabinet and ministerial colleagues, regarding a range of matters.
Our ambitions are to reverse the trend of inactivity, and to raise both productivity and living standards whilst improving the quality of work. To help achieve this, we have set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, demonstrating our commitment to bringing those furthest away from the labour market into it, increasing local labour supply.
Achieving our ambitions requires a cross-government approach, which is why the Employment Rights Bill will make work more secure, boost wages, and help people thrive by supporting them into and to get on in work. |
Poverty
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Tuesday 17th December 2024 Question to the HM Treasury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on levels of poverty. Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury) The Government is developing an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to reduce child poverty.
Autumn Budget 2024 announced measures to support households who face the greatest hardships. This support includes a new Fair Repayment Rate which caps deductions made through Universal Credit at 15% of the standard allowance. Before the budget, it was 25% meaning this change will benefit 1.2m families who will be better off by £420 per annum on average.
The government also committed £1 billion in 2025-26, including Barnett consequences, to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England, and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) in England and Wales. The HSF will help households facing the greatest hardship and financial crisis, including supporting them with the cost of essentials such as food, energy and water.
As shown in the analysis published alongside the Autumn Budget 2024, the impacts of government decisions are progressive and benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most in 2025-26. Overall, on average, all but the richest 10% of households will benefit from policy decisions in 2025-26. |
Winter Fuel Payment: Poverty
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Wednesday 18th December 2024 Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of recent changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment on trends in the level of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty. Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury) On 19 November, Secretary of State wrote to the Work and Pensions Select Committee to share internal government modelling produced by the Department outlining estimates of the number of pensioners estimated to move into poverty as a result of the policy change. This letter is available here Winter Fuel Payments eligibility change - Letter from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
The latest modelling shows that compared to the numbers that would have been in poverty without this policy, it is estimated that:
(a) there will be an additional 50,000 pensioners in relative poverty after housing costs in 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2027/28 and an additional 100,000 pensioners in relative poverty after housing costs in 2026/27, 2028/29 and 2029/30.
(b) for all other measures of poverty, it is estimated that there will be an additional 50,000 pensioners in poverty each year from 2024/25 to 2029/30.
The poverty impacts represent the change in the numbers in poverty as a result of the policy change only. They are not an estimate of the change in overall poverty each year or over time and should not be added together or interpreted as cumulative data.
It's important to note that this modelling is subject to a range of uncertainties meaning the poverty impacts are rounded to the nearest 50,000 individuals and the nearest 0.1 percentage point which should be taken into account when interpreting the results. This means that small variations in the underlying numbers impacted can lead to much larger changes in the rounded headline numbers.
The modelling does not account for any other measures announced at the Autumn Budget. The modelling also does not include any impacts on Pension Credit take-up as a result of the changes to Winter Fuel Payment eligibility.
The Prime Minister has been clear that means-testing the Winter Fuel Payment is not a decision that the Government wanted to take but given the £22 billion black hole in the economy, tough choices had to be made to fix the foundations and restore economic stability to make everyone better off in the long term. Last year Winter Fuel Payments cost around £2 billion and were paid to pensioners regardless of their income. Given the dire state of the public finances the Government has inherited, it’s right that the Government targets support to those who need it most while the Government continues our work to stabilise the economy.
But the Government will continue to stand behind vulnerable households this winter, including through delivering the £150 Warm Home Discount for low-income households from October and extending the Household Support Fund with £421 million to ensure local authorities can support vulnerable people and families. The Government will also ensure around 1.3 million households in England and Wales will continue to receive up to £300 in Winter Fuel Payments, and the new state pension will increase by around £470 next year, which will significantly outstrip any loss for pensioners of the winter fuel payments.
In addition, the Government and industry have worked together to deliver a £500m Winter Support Commitment for customers, which will help customers most in need by providing credit on bills, enhanced debt write-off schemes, and increased funding for charity partners to target hard to reach customers.
The Government continues to urge anyone who thinks they may be entitled to Pension Credit to check now, as all eligible claims can be backdated, and anyone who makes a successful claim will receive their payment. Over a million pensioners will still receive the Winter Fuel Payment and our drive to boost Pension Credit take up has already seen a 145% increase in claims. Anyone who makes a successful claim for Pension Credit before 21 December and meets the eligibility criteria will receive both Pension Credit and a Winter Fuel Payment, and the Government has deployed more than 500 additional staff to process the increase in Pension Credit claims. |
Department for Work and Pensions: Technology
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Wednesday 18th December 2024 Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to use technology to improve its productivity. Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions) As part of the Department’s ongoing transformation, we are increasing our use of automation, improving our underlying technology, and increasing the number of citizen self-service opportunities where it is appropriate to do so, meaning that, despite increased demand on our services, more of our time can be deployed onto the activities that support our customers at the point of demand. |
Unemployment: Young People
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Work and Pensions: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of youth unemployment since 2010. Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) Youth unemployment in 2010 was high following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds for Jul-Sep 2024 is 14.8% (4.5 percentage points lower than in Jul-Sep 2010). In recent quarters the youth unemployment rate has been increasing. It has increased by 2.8 percentage points on the year.
To address this our plan to get Britain working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work to reduce the number of young people not earning or learning. We are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. We expect the trailblazers to launch from Spring 2025.
The White Paper also sets out a range of measures to prevent youth inactivity before 18 – including an expansion of work experience and careers advice, action to tackle school attendance and steps to improve access to mental health services for young people
Recent unemployment estimates are subject to heightened volatility due to ongoing data quality problems with the ONS Labour Force Survey. This is particularly the case for the 16 to 24-year-old group, which as a smaller population group has wider margins of error than whole population estimates. Additionally, data prior to Jun-Aug 2011 has not been re-weighted by the ONS causing a discontinuity. |
Unmanned Air Vehicles
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Transport: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to encourage the use of drone technology. Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) This government’s strategic vision is to maximise benefits of drone technology – for the economy and for communities – whilst ensuring their emergence is both safe and secure, and respecting the needs of local communities across the country. |
Aviation
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Transport: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to implement her Department’s policy paper entitled Future of Flight Action Plan, published on 18 March 2024. Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) The future aviation sector is central to delivering on the Government’s missions, including kickstarting economic growth and delivering opportunities for all across the country.
My Department and I remain committed to delivering on the five future of flight strategic outcomes, which include demonstration and then routine use of drones operating Beyond the operator’s Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) at scale, and initial demonstrations of piloted electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flights, followed by routine use and autonomous operations.
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Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Business and Trade: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help safeguard jobs in the UK automotive supply chain. Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) The automotive industry is an important part of the Government’s plans for growth. Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we will support growth sectors to create high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country.
The Budget committed over £2 billion of capital and R&D funding to 2030 for zero emission vehicle manufacturing and their supply chains. Building on the achievements of the Automotive Transformation Fund and Advanced Propulsion Centre R&D programmes, we will launch a new initiative, kickstarting economic growth by supporting good jobs and productivity growth across the UK automotive sector. The Industrial Strategy will provide more details in the Spring. |
Fire and Rescue Services: Unmanned Air Vehicles
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Home Office: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to promote the wider adoption of drones by fire services. Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office) Fire and Rescue Services have been early adopters of drones which can improve decision making, operational efficiency and reduce risk to firefighters. We work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council which co-ordinates the use of Fire & Rescue Service Drones, ensuring services are aware of new technology and the benefits available. Fire and rescue authorities are operationally independent from government and decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions and keep their communities safe are a matter for each fire and rescue authority, based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances. Any consideration of equipment, including drones, will be part of this process. |
Business: Investment
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Business and Trade: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage business confidence. Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) Growth is the number one mission of the Government and we will continue to work with and listen carefully to the business community. In the Budget, the Government was forced to make difficult choices to plug the black hole in the Government’s finances, but the fundamentals for doing business in the UK remains strong. The Government has already taken steps to strengthen business and investor confidence through, reforming the planning system, getting people back to work and creating the growth and skills levy. DBT is driving long term, inclusive growth through our Industrial Strategy, Trade Strategy, Small Business Strategy and Plan to Make Work Pay. |
Hospitality Industry: Government Assistance
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Business and Trade: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the hospitality sector. Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) Hospitality businesses are at the heart of our communities and are vital for economic growth.
This is why the Government is creating a fairer business rate system, reducing alcohol duty on qualifying draught products and transforming the apprenticeship levy to support business and boost opportunities. This work will be supported by the publication of The Small Business Strategy Command Paper next year.
Through the Hospitality Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity. |
Post Offices: Closures
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Business and Trade: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Post Office closures on local communities. Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) The UK Government is as committed as ever to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Post Office network. It is inevitable that with a network of this size, there will be variations in the number of branches open at any one time. As postmasters move on, branches close and new ones open. The Post Office Chair’s recent announcement on the future of the Post Office has led to concerns around potential closures of Directly Managed Branches. However, no decisions have yet been taken on the future of any individual branch. While the Post Office network can fluctuate between areas and regions, the Post Office works with communities to consider how to best meet needs for Post Office services in a local area. The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens. |
Business: Regulation
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Department for Business and Trade: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to reduce regulation for businesses. Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) The Government is determined to kick-start economic growth, which is why it is essential that we identify areas where the costs of regulations may be unnecessarily high and burdensome for businesses. This is why the Department is developing an ambitious regulatory reform agenda to ensure that any future regulation, or reforms to regulation, work for businesses, consumers and supports the Government’s growth mission. As part of this, we are working across government to identify regulatory reforms that will support the Industrial Strategy. Our proposals will be set out in due course. |
Police: Unmanned Air Vehicles
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Thursday 19th December 2024 Question to the Home Office: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to promote the wider adoption of drones by police forces. Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office) The decision to use drones and in which circumstances are operational matters for police forces who are subject to the requirements of the Air Navigation Order and Data Protection legislation when operating drones. Drone technology is developing at a rapid pace, and therefore, in FY24/25 the Home Office has allocated over £4m to support national police-led programmes of work to support police use of drones and explore the benefits that future drones’ capabilities may provide to police operations - including, standardising police operations, trialling innovative use of drones to improve police productivity, and supporting the progression of a future operating model for police aviation that considers both crewed and uncrewed aircraft. |
Business Rates
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West) Friday 20th December 2024 Question to the Department for Business and Trade: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on business rates. Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) We are creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. The Secretary of State works closely with all his cabinet colleagues, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. The Government has also published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and inviting industry to co-design a fairer business rates system: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-business-rates |
Parliamentary Debates |
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Christmas Adjournment
56 speeches (20,389 words) Thursday 19th December 2024 - Commons Chamber HM Treasury Mentions: 1: Bob Blackman (Con - Harrow East) Friends the Members for North Cotswolds (Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown) and for Stockton West (Matt Vickers - Link to Speech 2: Bob Blackman (Con - Harrow East) Friend the Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) when I should have referred to my hon. - Link to Speech |
Parliamentary Research |
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Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: HL Bill 53 of 2024–25 - LLN-2024-0074
Dec. 20 2024 Found: Matt Vickers, shadow minister for crime, policing and fire, spoke to the amendment in the absence of |
Bill Documents |
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Dec. 20 2024
Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: HL Bill 53 Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill 2024-26 Briefing papers Found: Matt Vickers, shadow minister for crime, policing and fire, spoke to the amendment in the absence of |